Women's Tennis

WOMEN’S TENNIS BATTLES STRONG CAL TEAM, BUT FALLS ON THE ROAD

Apr 05, 2018

BERKELEY Calif. – Sacramento State women's tennis went up against a very strong Cal women's tennis team Thursday afternoon as they prepare for a long stretch of road conference matches. Although the Hornets battled hard against the Pac-12 opponent, they eventually fell to the Bears, 7-0.

"This was definitely a tough one today," said head coach Cami Hubbs after the match. "But I felt good about the way we came out in doubles. We started strong and I don't think the scores necessarily reflect the strides we've made there."

Cal clinched the doubles point, but not without a fight from the Hornets. Going up against the #48 doubles team in the nation, the pair of Maria Gonzalez and Carolina Chernyetsky made every game close despite falling, 6-2. Similarly, Shamika Dhar and Sofia Gulnova forced Cal to earn their points before dropping their match, 6-1.

Sacramento State faced more stiff competition in singles play, as both Ana Loaiza Esquivias (facing #32 Anna Bright) and Gonzalez (facing #44 Olivia Hauger) drew ranked competition in the one and two singles spots, respectively. Although they took four total games each, both Loaiza Esquivias and Gonzalez fell in straight sets, 6-2, 6-2.

Playing in the number six singles position, Dhar put up one of the best battles of the afternoon despite also falling in straight sets. Dhar kept pace with her opponent, Cal's Alexis Nelson, through most of the match before dropping the match, 6-3, 6-4.

"A match like this against an opponent like Cal definitely prepares us for next week's conference away matches," added Hubbs. "It's going to be a tough road trip but I feel confident we'll have what it takes to compete."

Thursday's game on the road at Cal was the first of five straight road matches for the Hornets. The next three are all against Big Sky Conference opponents as they face Southern Utah (4/13), Weber State (4/14) and Idaho State (4/15) on three consecutive days.

The three matches will have a significant impact on the Hornets' postseason outlook as they enter the weekend third in the conference, just one match up on Idaho State and Weber State and two matches up on Southern Utah.

Sacramento State will take on Southern Utah in just over a week, on Friday, April 13. That match is set to being at 11 am PDT.